What are we to make of Robert Indiana? His is generally considered part of the Pop art group of artists who came into prominence in the late '60s, along with Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, and Roy Lichtenstein, and though he is not perhaps as highly regarded in the art world, he has a wider popular following than any of them.

That popularity is the result of a single image, the word "LOVE" in capital letters, stacked two over two, with the O tilted at a sexy angle. "LOVE" became a ubiquitous icon of the '60s and spread like wildfire, causing endless copyright hassles. It was used as a popular postage stamp in 1974. Over the years Indiana has used the image in prints and paintings, presented it in many languages (including Chinese, Hebrew, and Hindi), and has made it into sculptures in marble, rusted steel, and shiny aluminum, and painted it in many different bright colors.

We all know the LOVE image, but the current retrospective show at the Farnsworth provides the unusual opportunity to look at Indiana's work as a whole. It includes student work from the '40s, abstract paintings from the '50s in New York, and reveals his gradual shift toward the solid, plainspoken graphics that he has used ever since.

What distinguishes Indiana from his Pop contemporaries is an almost total absence of irony. He is an exceptional graphic designer, and has used his skills to present his ideas and concerns directly, without the subterfuge that permeates Warhol or the painterly underpinnings of Lichtenstein's appropriation of comics. Compared with them and, say, Claes Oldenburg, Indiana seems guileless, almost innocent.

The signature image of Indiana's artistic temperament is not so much the "LOVE" icon, which has been used in so many ways that it hardly seems to be his any more, but the electric "EAT" sign that is currently installed on the Farnsworth's rooftop. Originally commissioned by Philip Johnson for the food pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair, the word is arranged in an "X" with Es on the left, Ts on the right, and one A in the middle, like a tic-tac-toe game. It makes reference to the diner signs often seen years ago in the Midwest, but adds a simple but effective graphic twist to an otherwise commonplace arrangement. Today the sign has energy-efficient LEDs flashing its message, replacing the original incandescent bulbs.

This is, I think, the fundamental root of all of Indiana's mature work. He finds a theme, often a simple one, that interests him and gives it a graphic arrangement that makes it seem fresh, funny, or, in the case of "LOVE," sexy.

Not all his themes are simple. The "Hartley Elegy" series collects and remixes the symbols that Marsden Hartley used in his Berlin paintings made in memory of his friend Karl von Freyburg, killed in World War I. Hartley's paintings were passionate and inventive, using the then-new cubist fracturing of the picture plane to try to make sense of his pain and confusion.

Two sides of life "I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist," the Pop artist Andy Warhol wrote in 1975. "Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art."

‘Wonderful Wickenden Street’ crumbles At the end of Wickenden Street, just off the roadway, construction equipment stood guard over piles of steel and rubble: remnants of an old Route 195 overpass taken down over the last month or so as part of a larger effort to shift the highway.

Brandeis shutters art museum Late Monday afternoon, Brandeis University informed leaders of its Rose Art Museum that it would close the institution this summer and auction off the more than 6000 pieces in its renowned collection, which includes major works by Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns.

Political Andy? Was Andy Warhol more politically engaged than he's given credit for?

Interview and photos: Gerard Malanga In Walt Whitman’s notebook for the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass , he writes, “Every soul has its own individual voice.” That notion rang true for photographer/poet/filmmaker Gerard Malanga as he put together “Souls,” an exhibit of 100 portraits spanning five decades.

Wizards and masterpieces At “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” at the Museum of Science, when a robed attendant places the sorting hat on a visitor’s head and soon after a door whooshes open to reveal the Hogwarts Express, you find yourself filled with the kind of giddy expectation you feel when getting your hands on a Potter book the day it’s released.

Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz steps down Fallout from Bernie Madoff's titanic scheme is still unfolding, as was made clear on this week's 60 Minutes report about the search for billions bilked by the New York Ponzi king.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM FREDERICK LYNCH AND WILLIAM MANNING | October 03, 2013 Both Frederick Lynch and William Manning are in their late 70s, both have taught others, and, more important, both have had a consistent arc over their long working careers. You can spot and identify works by either artist from a distance.

EXPLORING A MASSIVE EXPANSION AT COLBY’S MUSEUM | August 08, 2013 The Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion at the Colby College Museum of art, just opened, has added some 66 percent to the museum’s existing exhibition space, to a total now of some 38,000 square feet. With the gift of the 500 or so objects from the Lunder Collection, it means they can fill the space without breaking into a sweat.